J :.. 1771-i Ho be rt Louis Ste,·e n"m J{ulx:rt Loui, ~Ieven"'" Tl)

up th e White Ma n 's burden ­ t.l\'CT the nature uf rhe novel, Steven,:o,on argued for fictiun'~Jit ference fhHn lift'. TD JanH.:~'s.1:-,~ Ye "'>ir e n o r stoo p w less- >ertiun that a ncwd shuuld pruJu ce the illusion of rea lit y, Stevenson responJeJ that the au­ N o r ca ll l lo ud o n Freedo m thor should tel l >tories that express life'> dee per meanings. lnl1uenceJ by Hawth<>rne, Steven­ T o c lna k )Ur weariness; son fdt that the writer mu!)t c reate ''ro mance" rather than realism, not merel y tn cnten,un 45 By a ll ye cry n r ·h ispe r, readers but also to capture the umlerlying truths of the human conJiti,,n, induJm g the strug- By all ye lea ve do , gl~betwe en go0cl and e~l. · - Th e sile nt , sullen pet les In what became the pauern for h is adul t life, Steven>on left in the L1ter I 1i70s

to travel abroad and recuperate his failing health while lo,)king t;>r new litermy m<~tenal.In S h a ll we igh your Gn France he met his future wife, Fanny, an Americ<:~n.S he wc1s ten yl!ar:, older than he, marncJ ,

T ake up th e White Man'.~cn- anJ a mother. Bur making a hazardo us journey across the A tlannc anJ llverlanJ tt., S~nFran · ''' H ave do n e wtth ch ddtsh da ciscn, he marri ed her there when her Jivorce came thruugh in 1880. T hey haJ a ru>UC honey­ Th e lightl y proffered laure l, moon in a cabin in Napa Valley, recounted in Ste,·ensnn's The Silverado s,fiUiltcn ( l8o>) Th e easy, ungrudged pra ise. With Fanny's son Lloyd, the couple then returned to Britain, where Stevenson', father rec,>n­ Co m es no w, to sea rch yo ur manh ood ciled with his errant son, giv ing him a modest all,)wance so he could tra,·el and \\THe. In rlw Thr o ugh a ll th e th ank less yea rs, Stevenson concentrated nn short fictiun, including tnlli>h l" re. iS C o ld , edged with dea r-bought wisdo m, Together with Kipling he helped make the short story, until then ve ry much a French and Th e judgm ent of your peers 1 America n genre, a viral part o f English li teratu re. His fir::,t pt)pular success, hn weYer, re:>ulr~.:J 1899 from tht! map l)f an imag inary isle he was making with Lloyd. Written at tnp spee~..lo n a farn dy vacation in , Island ( 1883 ) mingles a hny's adventure >tory with a voyage uf

~ ENLl O F PERSPKI IVES: TRAV EL AN D EMPIRE sdf -discon::ry and growth; mesmeri zed by Long John Sil vl!r and ta le:-,of buri ed piratl' rreasun.. : ,

the yt>ung Jim Hawki ns n1usr abo realize what gn.:cJ anJ g'1IJ Jn tll pe,>ple. The htK>k ':-,~.. ll\·h..i~..'l..l

narrative, Jim's ambiguous rdle am11Jpimt es anJ privatee rs, and the atm~.bphericJ c:,cnprtdll­

~,the I X:::

s,>n ask eel his mother. Belief in the duality oi humJn nature, or what Stevenson later called­ had long heen try ing to writeo a story n rhi::,s ubject," ::,aid Steven;:,on , "ttl find ,., lxx.ly, a ,·chi­

referring to Dr. jekyll's transformatio ns-'' the war in the membe rs," permeared e\'ery corner of cle, for that stro ng sense nf man's Jouhlc being whic h must e-ll time~Cl Hnl' in ur~ln .md ll\Tr ­

the Stevensons' Cakini st household in Edinburgh. Th e ve ry furniture s~:rved as a reminder of whelm the mind of every thinking creature." Th e dream prod uced Mr. Hyde and his ' ucklcn the battle betwee n flc, h anJ spirit, fnr the Stevensons took pride in owning a cabinet that had transf(mna ticm, but Fanny felt that Stevenson's first Jraft JiJ not do justice t<) the theme. s., bet'n made by a double rersonality, Deacon Brod ic- upstanJin g citi:en by day, infamous crimi­ Stevenson bumed the original manuscript and in three days pwd uced the tcxr as we no\\' have nal by night. Th e fam ily atmosphere stressed the precarious position of the individual, poised it, ''the most famous fable in the English language nn the theme of the split personality," x ­ bet\\·een he;l\-en ancl hell, torn between the obliga tion to be gc>od and the seducti ve ness of cording to the criri c Susa n w ,,lfsnn. Like Mary Shel ley 's Frankensr.ein ( 18 18) the >tory i, evil. ··1 \\'mdd fear t<' trust mysdi tn slumber," Stevenson recalled, "lest I was not accepted [into (re)om structeJ by several narrators, and like Victor Frankenste in, Dr. Henry Jekyll make., heaven[ ancl should , lip, ere l awoke, int<1 etern al ru in." a revolutionary scientific discovery that has fata l rep<'rCU>Sid joy> and anxieti es in A Child's Garden Dr. Jekyll has no nc1ble aspirations to se n -e humanity: he dehberately intend, to he hacl. Whde

of \,"~n~s( 1885 ). Stevenson grew up surrounded by sw ries uf crime anJ punishment fo r an­ ~omcr eaders have fl)und in both works a similar message a ho ur the Jangcr::>o f tc11npcring with

1 other reason: the cit y uf Edinburgh itself possessed a dual peroonality. Th e Stevensons lived in nature. o thers h ave felt that moraljt~anJ..prnprit~ry ;u" th~IA-Jt,;....c.>.z.ib_iur_Sr.c ..\ LCl.l.~"n·wh ·n }' ll ­ the re>pectable New Town, a landmark district of gracefu l neoclass ical Georgian architecture, dJnge rs Dr. Jek yll is the restricti ve >OCial code ill:~ The story', oppressive Let­ but the area cc1existeclun easily with the gothic O ldT own of narrow alleyways, bars, and broth­ ti"ilglsc leai1y1iased0.1the EJinburgh of Stevenson's chiiJhn,xJ , where the fog and darkne,, els, where Deacon Bnxlie had pro,d ed by night. In his student Jays Stevenson and his cousin signal the presence of sin and Sawn, and the i>ulated livt:s of the narrators, all men with'"" Bob explored the dark side of town in defiance of his fami ly. He further strained the relation­ familit:s, echo the lond y repres;inn oi Dr. Jekyll. O nly Hyde's V<)iCtoi > missing fru rn the narra­ ship in 1873 when he announced that he was an agnostic and joined the Edi nburgh University ti\·e. But through him Stevensun hint> at the scandaluus tJea that the darker siJe uf 11LHnan'-> Skepncs C lub, who,e motto was "DisregarJ "''·erything ,,ur pa rents have taught us." natun..· necJs mnr~roo m for sdt -expre:-,sion. ./ But it was Stevenson·s attent ion to the pL>wer of a good swry, lea rneJ irom his father and Frnm the m<'l11t!nt Dr Jcky•ll and Mr l-lyde was publtshcd the >tory ge nerated grc·at liHere>t,

h is nurse, "Cummy," that led him, after stuJying medicine and law, to became a fictiun writer. rapidly achieving a classic status continuall y reinforce\.! hy the numeJ\JU::o.th l'arrical an~..lc ine­

A nd it was his Ca lvinistic background, with its sense of sin lurking beneath apparent virtue, matic ver:-,iuns it has inspired. lr \ \'CIS <1n instant hit o n the Lo nJl>n ..1nJ Ne w Yurk :-,lag:L', and

thar col, 1red his theory of literature. In 1885, in a wiJdy read literary debate with life appeared tu imitate ~rtwh en the nntoril>U> Jack- the-Ripper murde", still un,olve,l, t.-•k 1780 Hoben Louis Stevenson The Str;~ngeCa'e o f Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 17tH

pbc e in London the year afrer rhe nnvel appeared . The uni versa l appeal of Dr }ekyll and Mr It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a bysrrec t in a

HyJe seems bases d o n a uiking literary effecr- n1o::,t readers, Victorian as well as mtXI~rn, busy quarter of London. Th e srreer was small and whar is called quiet, bur it drove a identify with the "v illain" of the piece. Th e critic J. A. Symnnds protested tn Stevenson, "it thriving trade on the week-days. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and touches one roo closely. Most of us at some epoch of our lives have been upnn the ve rge of de­ all emu lously hoping ro do better still, and lay ing our rhe surplus Gf their gains in w­ ,.d,lp mg a Mr. Hyde." The poet and prie't Gerard Manley Hopk ins confes.ed to his friend quetry; so that the shop fronts stood along rhar thoroughfare with an air of im·ira­ Robert Bridges, who had 4uestioned rhe realism of the sw ry, "You are certainly wrong about tion, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled irs more flm id Hyde bei ng OYerdrawn: my Hyde is worse." For Victorians, ro read the book was to yield a hit charms and lay comparative ly empty of passage, the street shone our in cPnrrasr to its tu the inner Hyde, tu fed the temptations of Dr. Jekyll. As the reviewer for the London Times dingy neigh bourhood, like a fire in a forest; and wirh irs freshly painted shutters, noted in 1886, by ,·irrue of "a flash of intuitive psychological research" the reader feels "a cu­ well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of nute, instantly caught and riosi ty that keeps on growing because ir is never satisfied." Having become helplessly involvt:d, pleased the eye of rhe passenger. '-- _ "e,·ery conno isseur who reads the ~toryo nce, must certai nly reaJ it twice ." Two doors from one com er, on the left hand going east, rhe line was hruken by For additiLmal reS<)urces ,m Stevenson, including a selection of his pnetry, go to The the entry of a court; and just ar rhar po int, a certain sinister block of building thrust e Longman Anthology of British Lirera111re Web sire at www.myl iteraturck it.cnm. forward its ga ble on the street. It was two storeys high; showed no wi ndow, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discolnured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and surdid negligence. Th e door, The Strange Case of Dr JekyU and Mr Hyde which was equipped with ne ither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Story c the Door if Tramps slouched into the recess and struck marches on the pane ls; children kept Mr U rrers,)n rhe lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on rhe mouldings; and t(Jr hy a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors frequently his furtu ne to be rhe las t reputable acquainta nce and the last if for a procession and all as empty as a church- rill at last I gut into rhar stare uf good influence in the li\'es of down-going men. And tLl such as these, so lung as they mind when a man listens and listens and begins ro long tlJr the sight of a po liceman. came about his , he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour. A ll ar once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a No doubt the fear was easy to Mr U tterson; fur he was undemonstrative at rhe good walk , and the other a girl of may be eight nr ten who was running as hard as she hesr, and even his fri endships seemed to be founded in a similar catho licity' of good­ was able down a cross street. W ell, sir, rhe two ran in to one anoth er nawrally enuugh nature. It is the mark of a modest man to accept his fri endly ci rcle ready-made from at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for rhe man trampled rhe hands of opportunity; and that was the lawyer's way. His friends were those of his calmly over rhe child's body and lefr her screaming on the gmund. It sounds nPthing own bl ood or those whom he had known rhe longest; his affections, like ivy, were the to hear, bur it was hellish to see. lr wasn't like a man; it was like some d;mmed jug­ growth of rime, they implied no aptness in the obj ect. Hence, no doubt, rhe bond gernaut.3 I gave a vi ew halloa, rook ro my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought rhar united him to Mr Richard Enfield, his d istant kinsman, the well-known man him back to where there was already quite a group abo ut the screaming child. He was about rown. It was a nut to crack for many, what these two could see in each other or perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly rhar it bruughr whar subj ect they could find in common. It was reported by those who encountered our the sweat on me like running. Th e people whu had turned our were rhe girl 's own them in their Sunday wa lks, rhar rhey sa id nothing, looked singularly dull, and would family; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent, pur in his appea r­ ha il with obvious relief rhe appearance of a friend. For all rhar, rhe two men pur the ance. W ell, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, accnrding t

nor unl y set as ide occasions of pleas ure, bur even resisted the calls of business, that one curious ci rcumstance. I had t

uv~rwhdnung, ~{r,lm ... !!1"'- l · l. An uu:,hm).! torct' rhc Hm lu rh~,._nbdn:·:;

the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twe lve, when he would go have seen devilish little of the man. Such unsc ientific balderdash," added the doctur, soberly and gratefully to bed. O n this night, however, as soon as the cloth was taken flushing suddenly purple, "would have estranged Damon and Pythias." 1 away, he took up a candle and went into his business room. There he opened his This little spirt of temper was somewhat of a relief to Mr Utterson. "They have safe, took from the mos t private part of it a document endorsed on the envelope as only differed on some point of science," he thought; and being a man of no scientific Dr Jekyll's Will , and sat down with a clouded brow to study its contents. Th e will was passions (except in the matter of conveyancingl ) he even added: "It is nothing worse holograph,8 for Mr U trerso n, though he took charge of ir now that it was made, had than that!" He gave his friend a few seconds to recover his composure, and then ap­ refused to lend the least ass istance in the making of it; it provided nor only that, in proached the question he had come to put. case of the decease of Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., &c.,9 all hi s posses­ "Did you ever come across a protege3 of his--o ne H yde?" he as ked. sions were to pass into the hands uf his "friend and benefactor Edward Hyde," but "Hyde?" repeated Lanyon. "No. Never heard of him. Since my time." that in case of Dr Jekyll's "disappearance or unexplained abse nce for any period ex­ Th at was the amount of information that the lawyer carried back with him to ceeding three calendar month s," the sa id Edward Hyde should step into the sa id the great, dark bed on which he tossed to and fro, until the small hours of the morn­ Henry Jekyll's shoes without further delay and free from any burthen or obligation, ing began to grow large. It was a night of little ease to his toiling mind, toiling in beyond the pay ment of a few small sums to the members of the doctor's house hold. mere darkness and besieged by questions. This document had long been the lawye r's eyesore . It offended him both as a lawyer Six o'clock struck on the bells of the church that was so conveniently near to Mr

and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of life, to whom the fanciful was th~ Utterson's dwelling, and still he was digging at the problem. Hithert o it had touched immodest. And hitherto it was his ignorance of Mr Hyde that had swelled his indig­ him on the intellectual side alone; but now his imagination also was engaged or nation; now, by a sudden turn, it was his knowledge. It was already bad enough when rather enslaved; and as he lay and tossed in the gross darkness of the night and the the name was bur a name of which he could learn no more. It was worse when it be­ curtained room, Mr Enfield's tale went by before his mind in a scroll of lighted pic­ ga n to be clothed upon with detestable attributes; and out of the shifting, insubstan­ tures. He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the ti al mists that had so long baffled his eye, there leaped up the sudden , defin ite pre­ figure of a man walking swiftly; then of a child running from the doctor's; and then se ntment of a fiend. these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardl ess "] thought it was madness,"s he aid, as he replaced the obnox ious paper in the of her sc reams. Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay safe, "and now I begin to fear it is disgrace." asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be With that he blew our his candle, put on a great coat and set forth in the direc­ opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo 1 there tion of Cavendish Square, that citadel of medicine where his friend, the great Dr would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead Lanyo n, had his house and received his crowding patients. "If anyone knows, it will hour, he must rise and do its bidding.4 The figure in these two phases haunted the be Lanyon," he had thought. lawyer all night; and if at any time he dozed over, it was but to see it glide more Th e solemn butler knew and welcomed him; he was subj ected to no stage of de­ stealthily through sleeping houses, or move the more swiftly and still the more lay, but ushered direct from the door to the dining-room where Dr Lanyon sa t alone swiftly, even to dizziness, through wider labyrinths of lamplighted city, and at every over his wine. This was a heart y, healthy, dapper, red-faced ge ntleman, with a shock street comer crush a child and leave her screaming. And still the figure had no iace L)f hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner. A t sight uf Mr Ur­ by which he might know it; even in his dreams, it had no face, or one that baffled terso n, he sprang up from his chair and welcomed him with both hands. Th e geni al­ him and melted before his eyes; and thus it was that there sprang up and grew apace ity, as was the way of the man, was somewh at theatrical to the eye; but it reposed on in the lawyer's mind a singularly strong, almost an inordinate, curiosity to behold the ge nuine feeling. For these two were old friends, old mates both at school and college, features of the real Mr Hyde. If he could but once set eyes on him, he thought the both thorough respecters of themselves and of each other, and, what does not always mystery would lighten and perhaps roll altogether away, as was the habit of mysteri­ follow, men who thoroughly enj oyed each other's company. ous things when well examined. He might see a reason for his friend's strange prefer­ After a little rambling talk, the lawyer led up to the subject which su disagree­ ence or bondage (call it which you please ) and even for the startling clauses of the ably preocc upied his mind. will. And at least it would be a face worth seeing: the face of a man who was without "] suppose, Lanyo n," sa id he, "you and I must be the two oldest friends that bowels of mercy: a face which had but to show itself to raise up, in the mind of the Henry Jekyll has?" unimpressionable Enfield, a spirit of enduring hatred. "] wish the friends were younge r," chuckled Dr Lanyon. "But I suppose we are. From that time forward, Mr Utterson began to haunt the door in the bystreet of A nd what of that ? I see little of him now. " shops. In the morning before office hours, at noon when business was plenty and time "Indeed?" sa id Utterson. "I thought you had a bond of common interes t." scarce, at night under the face of the fogged city moon, by all lights and at all hours of "W e had," was the reply. "But it is more than ten yea rs since Henry Jekyll be­ solitude or concourse, the lawyer was to be found on his chosen pos t. ca me too fa nciful for me. He began to go wrong, wrong in mind; and though of "If he be Mr Hyde," he had thought, "I shall be Mr Seek." course I continue to cake an interest in him for old sake's sa ke as they say, I see and I

l. LegcnJary frienJs in ancient G reece. or mllucntial person.

t ~- h~ pcr~un , . :\ Jo,.:umc;.Tlt m handwriting 1)f the whv has 'i. M cJ~ealD .. xt~> r Du(lur uf Ci"il Law, J\x:1or 11f Law, 2. The rransfer of property . 4. Cf. Mary Shelley'::. Fmnkenstcin (~.:h 4 ), when.: thl· :>lgl h,_'d it. Fdluw of lhc Ruyal Soc 1t.::ty. 3. A person whose career is aiJeJ by a more ex~rienced monster sranJs over h1s sleering crearor. 17t>6 Rube n Louis Stt:l'c·nson The Strange Case o f Dr _lekvll and 1\ l r l l yd e I"'H7

A nd at last his patience was rewarded. It was a tine dry n ight; frost in the ai r; the Th e nther snarled alm td into a savage laugh; and the next moment with exrrt all of these together could he vast hum and clatter of rhe c ity. Yet his attention had never before been so explain the hithert o unknown disgust, loathing and fear wirh which Mr Utrerson re ­ harply and decisively arrested; and it was with a strong, superstitious prevision of garded him. "There must be something else," said the perplexed ge ntleman . "Th ere is uccess that he withdrew into the entry of the court. something more, if I could find a name for ir. God bless me, rhe man seems hardly The steps drew swiftl y nearer, and swe lled out suddenly louder as they turned the human! Somethin g troglodyr ic,; shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr Fell ?6 or :nd <1fth e street. Th e lawyer, looking forth from the entry, could suon see what man­ is it rhe mere radiance of a foul soul that rhus transpires through. and transfigures, its lCr of man he had to deal with. He was small and very plainly dressed, and rhe lo5k clay continent ? Th e last, I think ; for 0 my poor old Harryi Jekyll, if ever I read Sa­ ,f him, even at rhat clistance, went somehow strongly against the watcher's inc!in a­ tan's signature upon a face, iri s on that of your new friend. " ion. But he made stra ight for the door, crossing rhe roadway to save time; and as he Round the corner from the bystreet, there was a square of ancient , handsome :ame, he drew a key from his pocket like one approaching home. houses, now for the most parr decayed from their high estate and ler in flars and Mr Utte rsun stepped out and touched him on rhe shoulder as he passed. "Mr chambers to all sorts and conditions of men: map engravers, architects, shady lawye rs -Iyde, l think ?" and the agents of obscure enterprises. O ne house, however, second from the corner, Mr H yde shrank back with a hissing intake of the breath. Bur his fear was only was still occupied entire; and at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and numentary; and though he did not look the lawyer in rhe face, he answered cuolly comfort, though it was now plunged in darkness except for the fan -light, M r U rterson :nough: "Th at is my name. Wh at do yo u want ?" stopped and k-nocked. A we ll-dressed , elderly se rva nt opened the door. "I see yo u are going in," returned rhe lawyer. "I am an o ld friend of Dr Jekyll's­ "Is Dr Jekyll at home, Poole?" asked rhe lawyer. .tlr UrtersWdid you know me?" "Q uire right, Mr Utrerson, sir," replied rhe servant. "Mr Hyck ha, a key." "By descriptinn ," was the reply. "Your master seems to repuse a great deal of trust in rhar young man, Poulc," re ­ "Whose description?" sumed the orher musingly. "W e have common friends," sa id Mr Urtersun. "Yes, sir, he du indeed," sa id Poole. "We ha1·e all urders tou," cried Mr Hyde, wirh a flu sh of anger. "I did nor think yo u 5. Pnminvc .m.J hrutt~h.lih a GH '<..' ~lwdkr. win· I c.mn,,t tell; / Hut du~I kndv., .m... l knP\~tull \\..:11./

Vu~rhym ...· .-hl!ul 1... 1~.~ n11t J,n..: th~o.·\.'.Dr. F... :! I." rhe l"kan ...If Chrisr Chun.:h. Oxt~~rJ.Dr. Juhn Fd l 7. "01 ..1 H.m)" '' ...Lmg h 1r thl..'.. ! ... ·\d . "Come," sa id Mr Urrerson, "that is nut fi tting language." ( 1625- 1686): "I Jo nnt t... w ,_.th\.'l', Dr. Fell. / Thc- rea:.on 1788 Hubert Louis Stevenson The Strangt· Case of Dr Jek yll and Mr Hyde 178'1

"I do not think I ever met Mr Hyde?" asked Utterson. good fellow- you needn't frow n- an excellent fellow, and I always mean to see more "0, dear no, sir. He never dines here," replied the butler. "Indeed we see very lit- of him; bur a hide-bound pedant for all rhat; an ignorant, blatant pedant. I was never tle of him on this side of the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory." more disa ppointed in any man than Lanyon." "W ell, good night, Poole." "Yuu know I never approved of it," pursued Utterson, ruthlessly disrega rding the "Good night, Mr Utterson." fresh topic. And the lawyer se t out homeward with a very heavy heart. "Poor Harry Jekyll," "My will ? Yes, certainly, I know rhar," sa id the doctor, a trifle sharply. "You have he thought, "my mind misgives me he is in deep waters' He was wild when he was to ld me s<>." young; a long while ago to be sure; but in the law of God, there is no statute of limi­ "Well, I tell you so aga in," continued the lawyer. "I have been learning some­ tations. Ay, it must be that; the ghos t of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed thing of young Hyde." disgrace: punishment coming, pede claw:io,s years after memory has forgotten and self­ The large handsome face of Dr Jekyll grew pale to the ve ry lips, and there came a love condoned the fault." And the lawyer, scared by the thought, brooded awhile on blackness about his eyes. "! do not care to hear more," sa id he. "Th is is a matter I his own past, groping in all the comers of memory, lest by chance some Jack-in-the­ thought we had ag reed to drop." Box of an old iniquity should leap to light there. His past was fairly blameless; few "What I heard was abominable," sa id Utterson. men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to "Itm can ake no change. You do not understand my pos ition," returned the doc­ the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into a sober and fear­ tor, with ce rtain incoherency of manner. "I am painfully situated, U tterson; my posi ­ fu l gratitude by the many that he had come so near to doing, yet avoided. And then tion is a very strange-a very strange one. It is one of those affairs thar cannot be by a return on his former subject, he conceived a spark of hope. "This Master Hyde, if mended by talking." he were studied," thought he, "must have secrets of his own: black secrets, by the "Jekyll," sa id Utterson, "you know me: I am a man to be trusted. Make a clean look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll's worst would be like sunshine. breast of this in confidence; and I make no doub.t I can ge t yo u out of it." Things caru1ot continue as they are. It turns me cold to think of this creature stealing ''My good Utterson," sa id rhe doctor, "this is very good of you, rhis is downright / like a thief to Harry's bedside; poor Harry, what a wakening! And the danger of it; for goud of you, and I cannot find words to thank you in. I believe you full y; I would trust - if this Hyde suspects the existence of the will, he may grow impatient to inherit. Ay, yo u befme any man alive, ay, before myself, if l could make the choice; but indeed it I must put my shoulder to the wheel- if Jekyll will but let me," he added, "if Jekyll isn't what you fancy; it is not so bad as that; and just to put your good hea rt at rest, I will only let me." For once more he saw before his mind's eye, as clear as a trans­ will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde. 1 give you my parency, the strange clauses of the will. hand upon that; and I thank you aga in and again; and 1 will just add one little word , Uttersnn, that I'm sure you'll take in good part: this is a private matter, and I beg of Dr.fekyll Was Quite at Ease you to let it sleep." Utterson reflected a little looking in the fire. A fortnight later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor gave one of his pleasant din­ "I have no doubt you are perfectl y right," he sa id at las t, ge uin g ro his feet. ners to some fiv e or six old cronies, all intelligent, reputable men and all judges of "Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for rhe las t rim e I good wine; and Mr Utterson so contrived that he remained behind after e others th hope," continued the doctor, "there is one point I should like yo u to understand. I had departed. This was no new arrangement, but a thing that had befallen many have really a ve ry great interest in poor Hyde. I know you have see n him; he ro ld me scores of times. Wh ere Utt erso n was liked, he was liked well. Hosts loved to detain so; and I fear he was rude. But I do sincerely take a great, a very great interest in that the dry lawyer, when the light-hearted and the loose-tongued had already their foot young man; and if I am taken away, Urterson, I wish you ro promise me rhar you will on the threshold; they liked to sit awhile in his unobtrusive company, practising for bear with him and ge t his rights for him. I think you would, if you knew all; and it so litude, sobering their minds in the man's rich silence after the expense and strain of would be a weight off my mind if you wou ld promise." ga iety . To this rule, Dr Jekyll was no exception; and as he now sa t on the opposite "I can't pretend thar I shall ever like him," said rhe lawyer. side of the fir large, we ll-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a e-a "I don't ask rhar," pleaded Jekyll, lay ing his hand upon the other's ann; "I unly slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindne u could see by his ss-yo ask for justice; I only ask you to help him for my sa ke, when I am no longe r here." looks that he cherished for Mr Utrerson a sincere and warm affection. Urrerson heaved an irrepressible sigh. "Well," sa id he. "I promise." "I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll," began the latter. "You know that will of yours?" /t: r r\ A close obse rver might have gathered that the topic was distasteful; but rhe doc­ \LJC\--1N' \.} The Ca rew Murder Case tor carried it off gaily. "My poor Utterson," sa id he, "you are unfortunate in such a ~earlya yea r later, in rh e monrh of Octobe r 18- , London was startled by a crime uf client. I never saw a man so distressed as you we re by my will; unless it were that singular ferocity and rendered all rhe more notable by the high pos ition of the vic­ hide-bound pedant, Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies. 0, I know he's a tim. The details were few and startling. A maid se rvant living alone in a huuse nor far frum the ri ve r, had gu ne upstai rs to bed about eleven . A lthough a fug ro lled over rhe city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and rhe lane, whi ch 8. On halnng f,)t)( (Larin ); i.e. limping. the maid's window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon. It seems she was 1790 Hob e rt Louis Steve nson The Strange C 1se of Urkk yl l and \ lr ll yde 1-9 1

romant ically given, for she sat down upun her box, which sroud immediately under "Particularly small and particularly wicked-looking, is what the maid calls h11n," the window, and fe ll intu a dream of musing. Neve r (she used ro say, with streaming sa id the officer. tears, when she narrated that experience) never had she fe lt more at peace with all Mr Utterson reflected; and then, raising his head, "If you will come with me in men or thought more kindly of the world. A nd as she so sat she became aware of an my cab," he said, "I thinkt I can ake you to his house."

aged ancl beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing near along the lane; and ad- It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the fir>t fog of the sc;~>on.A \ vancing to meet him , another and very small gentleman, to whom at first she paid great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, bur the wi nd wa, cnntinually 1 less attention. When they had come within speech (which was just under the maid's charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled fro m street eyes) the older man bowed ;md accosted the other wi th a very pretty manner of po­ to street, Mr Utterson beheld a marvellous number uf degrees and hues of twi light; liteness. It did not seem as if the subject of his address were of great importance; in­ for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glnw of a deed, from his pointing, it sometimes appeared as if he were only inquiring his way; rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration;

"Is this Mr Hyde a person of small stature?" he inquired. 9. Tahlc lin~::n~. J 792 Kohe rt Loui' S!e,·ensun Th e ~lr:~ngeC" e of Dr .Jckrll and ,\Jr ll ydc 7')j

ll having been recently and hurriedly ransacked; clothes lay about the tloor, with at an end. A nd incleed he does nh manner. ··y,,u .pector disinterred the butt end of a green cheque book, which had res isted the ac­ seem pretty sure of him," sa id he; "and for yuur sake, I htlpe you may be right. If it iun of the fire; the other half of the stick was found behind the door; and as this cam e to a tri

:>.is family cuuld nuwhere be traced; he had never been photographed; and the few Utterson ruminated awhile; he was su rprioed at his friend', selfiohneso, and yet whcl could describe him differed widely, as common observers will. O n ly on one relieved by it. "Well," S

on him again . I bind my hunour to yo u that I am done with him in this world. It is all I . ~·kmher~1 fP culianwm. 179-1 Rohen Louis S!even.,on The· S!range Case of Dr jek\·11c111d ,'v ir 11\·de I'<)~

of another should he sucked down in the eddy of the scandaL It was, ar least, a ti ck­ Bur no sooner was Mr Uttersun alone that night than he locked the note into lish dec ision that he had to make; and, self-re liant as he was by habit, he began to his safe, where it reposed from that time forwa rd. "Wh at!" he thought. "Henry Jek yll cherish a longing for advice. It was not to be had d irectly; but perhaps, he thought, forge for a murderer! " And his blood ran cold in his veins. ir mighr be fished for. Presently after, he sar on one sid e of his own hearth , with Mr Guest, h is head Nenwrk able lncideut of Due/or Lauyon clerk , upon the other, and midway between, at a nicely calculared di stance frum

the fire, a bottle of a particular o ld wine that had long dwe lt unsunn ed in the Time ra n on; thnusa nds of pnundso were ffered in reward , t~Jrrh e death of Sir Dan­ fo undations of his house. Th e fog srill slept on the wing above the drowned c ity, ve rs was resented as a public injury; bur Mr Hyde had disappeared our of rhe ken ot where the lamps glimme red like carbunc les; and through the muffle and smother the police as though he had never ex isted. Much of his past \\·as une­ rhe great arteries with a sound as of a mighty wind. Bur rhe room was gay with lent, of his vile life, of his strange associates, of the hatred rhar seemed w h;n'e sur­ fire light. In the bo ttle the acids were long ago resolved; the imperial dye had soft­ ro unded his career; but of his present whereabouts, nor a whisper. Fm m the rime he ened with t ime, as the colour grows ric her in stained windows; and the glow of ho t had left the house in Sohn on the morning of rhe murder, he was sim ply blotted uur; aut umn afternoons on hillside vineyards was ready w he set free and to disperse and gradually, as time drew on, Mr Utte rson began ro recover fro m rhe hotness nf his the fogs nf London. Insensibly the lawye r me lted. Th ere was no man from whom alarm, and to grow more at quiet wirh himse lf. Th e death of Sir Danvers was, w hi, he kept fewe r secre ts than Mr G uest; anel he was not always sure that he kept as way of thinking, more than paid for by the disappearance uf Mr Hyde. Now that rhar man y as he meant. G ues t had often been on business to the docto r's; he knew evi l influence had been withdrawn, a new life began fur Dr JekylL He came our of his Poole; he could scarce have failed to hear of Mr H yde's fam ili arity ahuut the seclusion, renewed re lations with his fri ends, became once more the ir familiar guest

huuse ; he might draw conclusions: was ir nor as we ll , rhen, that he should see a and entertainer; and whilst he had alw<-~ysbeen know n for charities, he was nuw no le tter which pur rhar mystery to righ ts 7 am i above a ll since G uest, being a grea t less distinguished for religion. He was busy, he was much in the open air, he d ie! guud; studen t eto r's with a small p

"The man, uf course, was mad." house," Poole sa id, "and saw no one." O n the 15rh, h~tri ed aga in, and \\·as aga in

"I should like ro hear yo ur views on that," repl ied Utterson . "I have a elocument refused; and having nnw been used tor the las t two m,mths to see his frienei ~dm,,,r here in his handwriting; iris between ourselves, for I scarce knnw what to do about it; daily, he found this return of solitude to we igh upo n his spirits. Th e fifth n ight , he it is an ugly business ar the best. But rhere ir is; quire in yo ur way: a murderer's auto­ had in Guest to dine with him; and rhe sixth he beton k himsel f ru Doctor graph." Lanyo n's. Guest's eyes brigh tened, and he sat down at once and sruelieJ it with pass ion. T here at least he was not denied admittance; bur when he co me in , he was "No, sir," he sa id; "not mad; bur it is an odd hand." shocked at the change which had taken place in the doctor's appearance. He had his "Anda by ll accnunts a very odd writer," added rhe lawyer. death-warrant written legibly upon his face. Th e rosy man had grown pa le; his tlesh Just then the servant entered with a note. had fa llen away; he was visibly balder and o lder; and yet it was not so mu ch these to­ "Is that from Dr Jekyll , sir ?" inquired the c lerk . "I thought I knew the writing. kens of a swift physical decay rhat arrested the lawyer's notice, as rhe look in the eye Anyt hing private, Mr Utterson ?" and quality of manner that seemed to tes tify to some elcep-seatecl rerrn r nf the: mind. 1 1 "Only an invitati on tn dinn er. Wh y dn ynu wa nt w sec it " It was unlik ely that the doctor should fear death; and yet that was whn wa' "One moment. I rhank you, sir;" and rhe clerk laid the rwo sheets of paper along­ tempted to suspect. "Yes," he rhoughr; "he is a doctor, he must know his own state side and sedulously compared the ir contents. "Th ank you, sir," he sa id at last, return­ and that his days are counted; and the knowledge is mt)re than he can bear." A nd yer ing both; "it's a very interesting autograph." when Utrerson remark ed on his ill -looks, it was wi th an air of great firmness thar Th ere was a pause, during which Mr Urrerson struggled with himse lf. "Wh y did Lanyon declared himself a doomed man. you compare them, G uest ?" he inquired suddenly. "I have had a shock," he sa id , "and l shall neve r reCLJver. It is a questi on of "Well , sir," returned the clerk , "there's a rather singular resemblance; rhe rwo weeks. Well, life has been pleasant; I liked it; yes, si r, I used w like it. I sometime> hands are in many po ints identical: only differently sluped." think it we knew all we should be more glad to get away." "Rather quaint," said Utterson . "Jekyll is ill, too," observed Urrerson. "Have you seen him 7"

''II is, as you say, rather quaint," returned Guest. But Lanyon's face changed, and he held up a trembling hand. "I 1\·ish to ><~e,,r IK\ lr "I wou ldn't speak of this note, yo u know," sa id the master. no more of Doctor Jekyll," he said in a loud, unsteady voice. I am quire dt>nc wirh rhar "No, st ir," sa id he c lerk. "! understand." person; and I beg that you will spare me any allusion tll une whom I reg

"T ut-tut," sa id Mr Utterson; and then after a considerable pause, "Can't l do perhaps, in h is heart, he preferred to speak with Poole upon the doorstep and sur­ anything?" he inquired. "We are three very old friends, Lanyon; we shall not live to rounded by the air and sounds of the open city, rather than to be ad mitted into that make others." house of voluntary bondage, and to sit and speak with its inscrutable recluse. Poole "Nothing can be done," returned Lanyon; "ask himself." had, indeed, no very pleasa nt news to communicate. The doctor, it appea red, now "He will not see me," said the lawyer. more than ever confined himself to rhe cabinet over the laboratory, where he would "] am not surprised at that," was the reply. "Some day, Utterson, after I am dead, sometimes even sleep; he was out of spirits, he had grown ve ry silent, he did not you may perhaps come to learn the right and wrong of this. I cannot tell you. And in read; it seemed as if he had something on his mind. Utterson became so used to the the meantime, if you can sit and talk with me of other things, for God's sake, stay and unvarying character of these reports, that he fell off little by little in the frequency do so; but if you cannot keep clear of this accursed topic, then, in God's name, go, for of his visi ts. I cannot bear it." As soon as he got home, Utterson sat down and wrote to Jekyll, complaining of lucident at the Winclou• his exclusion from the house, and asking the cause of this unhappy break with Lanyon; and the next day brought him a long answer, often very pathetically worded, It chanced on Sunday, when Mr Urrerson was on his usual walk with Mr Enfield , and sometimes darkly mysterious in drift. The quarrel with Lanyon was incurable. "! that their way lay once aga in through the bystreet; and that when they came in front do nor blame our old friend," Jekyll wrote, "but I share his view that we must never of rhe door, both stopped to gaze on it. meet. I mean from henceforth to lead a life of extreme seclusion; you must nor be sur­ "Well," said Enfield, "that story's at an end at least. We shall never see mme of prised, nor must you doubt my friendship, if my door is often shut even to you. You Mr Hyde. " must suffer me to go my own dark way. I have brought on myself a punishment and a "I hope not," sa id Utterson. "Did I ever tell you that l once saw him, and shared danger that I cannot name. If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also. you r feeling of repulsion ?" I could not think that this earth contained a place for sufferings and terrors so un­ "It was im possible to do the one without the other," returned Enfield. "And by manning; and you can do but one thing, Utterson, to lighten this destiny, and that is the way what an ass you must have thought me, not to knnw that this was a back way to respect my silence." Utterson was amazed; the dark influence of Hyde had been to Dr Jekyll's! It was partly your own fault that I found it out, even when l did." withdrawn, the doctor had returned to his old tasks and amities; a week ago, the "So you fnund it out, did you?" said Utterson. "But if that be so, we may step into prospect had smiled with every promise of a cheerful and an honoured age; and now the court and rake a look at the windows. To tell you the truth, I am uneasy about in a moment, friendship, and peace of mind and the whole tenor of his life were pour Jekyll; and even outside, I feel as if the presence of a friend might do him good." wrecked. So great and unprepared a change pointed to mad ness; but in view of The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, al­ Lanyon's manner and words, there must lie for it some deeper ground. though rhe sky, high up overhead, was still bright with sunset. The middle one of rhe A week afterwards Dr Lanyon took to his bed, and in something less than a fort­ three windows was half way open; and sitting close beside it, taking the air with an night he was dead. The night after the funeral, at which he had been sadly affected, Ut­ infinite sadness of mien, like some di sconsolate prisoner, Une rson saw Dr Jekyll. terson locked the door of his business room, and sitting there by the light of a melan ­ "What! Jekyll !c" he ried, "I trust you are better." choly candle, drew out and set before him an envelope addressed by the hand and sealed "! am very low, Un erson," replied the doctor drearil y, "very knv. It will nnt Llst with the seal of his dead friend. "PRIVATE: for the hands ofJ.G. Utterson ALONE and long, thank God." in case of his predecease w be destroyed unread," so it was eJllphatically superscribed; and "You stay too much indoors," said the lawyer. "You should be our, whipping up the lawyer dreaded to behold the contents. "I have buried one friend to-day," he the circulation like Mr Enfield and me. (This is my cousin- Mr Enfield- Or Jekyll.) thought: "what if this should cost me another?" And then he condemned the fear as a Corne now; get your hat and take a quick turn with us." disloya lty, and broke the seal. Within there was another enclosure, likewise sealed, and "You are very good," sighed the other." ! should like to very much; but no, no, no, marked upon the cover as "nor to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr Henry it is quite imposs ible; I dare not. But indeed, Utterson, I am very glad to see you; this is Jekyll." Utterson could not trust his eyes. Yes, it was disappearance; here aga in, as in the really a great pleasure; I would ask you and Mr Enfield up, bur the place is really nor fit. " mad will which he had long ago restored to its author, here aga in were the idea of a dis­ "Why then," said the lawyer, good-naturedly, "the best thing we can do is to stay appearance and the name of Henry Jekyll bracketed. Bur in the will, that idea had dow n here and speak with you fro m where we are." sprung from the sinister suggestion of the man Hyde; it was set there with a purpose all "That is just what I was abour to venture ro propose," returned the doctor with a wo plain and horrible. Written by the hand of Lanyon, what should it mean ? A great smile. But the words were hardly uttered, before the smile was struck out of his face curiosity came on the trustee, to disregard the prohibition and dive at once to the bot­ and succeeded by an expression of such abject terror and despa ir, as froze the ve ry tom of these mysteries; but professional honour and faith to his dead friend were strin­ blood of the two gentlemen below. Th ey saw it but for a glimpse, for the window was gent obligations; and the packet slept in the inmost corner of his private safe. instantly thrust down; but that glimpse had been sufficient, and they rurned and left It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it; and it may be doubted the court without a word. In silence, too, they traversed the bystreet; and it was nc)t if, fro m that day forth, Utterson desired the society of his surviving frie nd with rhe until they had come into a neighbou ring thoroughfare, where even upon a Sunday same eagerness. He thought of him kindly; but his thoughts were disquieted and fear­ there were still some stirrings of life, that Mr Utterson at last turned and looked at his ful. He went to call indeed; but he was perhaps relieved to be denied admittance; companion. Th ey were both pale; and there was an answering horror in their eyes. 1-l)l) 179H Roben Louis Stevenson The Strange Case o f Dr Jekyll and ~lr1- 1\·de

"God forgi,·e us, God forgive us," sa id Mr Utrerson. "W ell , sir," he said, "here we are, and Gud grant there be nnthing wrung." But Mr Enfield onl y nodded his head very seriously, and wa lked on once more in "Amen, Poole," sa id the lawyer. silence. Th ereupon the servant knocked in a very guarded tm mner; the LiOLlr was opened nn rhe chain; and a voice asked from within , "ls that you, Poole?" Tbe Last Night "It's all right," said Poole. "Open rhe door." Th e hall, when they entered it, was brightly lighted up; the fire was built h igh; Mr Utterson was sitting by his fireside one evening after dinner, when he was sur­ and about the hearth the whole of the se rvants, men and women, swod huddled to­ prised to receive a visit from Pc1ole. gether like a flock of sheep. At the sight of Mr Urrerson, the house maid broke into "Bless me, Poole, what brings yo u here 1" he cried; and then taking a second look hysterical whimpering; and the cook, crying out "Bless God 1 it's Mr Urrerson," ran 1 at him, "Wh at a ils you " he added, "is the doctor ill ?" forwa rd as if to take him in her arms. "M r Urrerson," sa id the man, "there is something wrong." "What, what ? Are you all here?" said the lawyer peevishly. "Very irregular, very "T ake a sear, and here is a glass of wine for yo u," sa id the lawyer. "Now, rake unseemly; your master wuu ld be far from pleased." your rime, and tell me plainly what you want." "Th ey're all afraid," said Poo le. "You know the doctor's ways, sir," replied Poole, "and how he shuts himse lf up. Blank silence fo llowed, no one pmt esting; on ly rhe maid lifted up her n>ice and We ll, he's shut up aga in in the cabinet; and I don't like it, sir- 1 wish I may die if I now wept loud ly. like it. Mr Utrerson, sir, I'm afraid." "Hold your ro ngue 1" Poole sa id to her, with a feruc ity of accent thar testified t

Mr Utterson's onl y answer was to rise and get his hat and great coat; bur he ob­ "Mr Utterson, sir, asking to see yo u," he c<~lled;a nd even as he did Serhaps with no less, that the wine was stillunt asted when he set it down to follow. A voice answered from within : "T ell h im I cann ot see an yune," it sa id curn- It wa, a wild, cold , seasonable night of March, with a pale moon, lying on her plainingly. •ack as though the wind had ti lted her, and a flying wrack of the most diaphanous "Th ank you, sir," sa id Poole. with a note of somethin g like triumph in his Vaid Mr Ut­ tg, these were not the dews of exertion that he wiped away, bur the mo isture of terson, biting his finger. "Suppose it were as you suppose, suppo>ing Dr Jekyll tme strangling anguish; for h is face was white and his voice, when he spoke, harsh been- well , murdered , what could induce rhe murderer to sray ? Th at won't huld wa ­ nd broken. ter; it doesn't commend itself to reason." I HOI lU Kohen Loui' Ste1·enson The ~tr"ngeC"o.: uf Dr Jcl-.~II "nd \l r ll i'Jo.:

"Well, Mr Unersn n, you are a hard man ro satisfy, but I'll do it yet," said Poo le. twenty years1 du you think I do nut know where his head cnmes tu in the cabmet ll this las t week (you must know) him, or it, or whatever it is that live' in that cab­ door, wher<: l saw him every murning of my life? No, sir, that thing in the mask was ·t , has been crying night and day for some sort of medicine and cannot get it to his never Doctor Jekyll- Gnd knows what it wa,, but it was never Ductur Jekyll; and it is nd. It was sometimes his way- the mas ter's, that is-to write his orders on a sheet the belief of my heart that there was murder done." paper and throw it un the sta ir. W e've had nothing else this week back; nothing "Poole," replied the lawyer, "if you >

:re have been orders and complaints, and I have been s<::nt flying to all the whole­ that door." e chemi,ts in town. Every time l brough t the stuff back, there would be another "Ah, Mr Utterson, that's talking!" cried the butler. 1t:r td ling me ro rerum it, because it was not pure, and another order to a different "And now comes the seconcl que>tion," resumed Utter:,on: "Whu is going t

~ntityf rom Messrs. M. He nnw begs them to search with the most sedulous care, and it. "Do yo u know Poole," he sa id, luoking up, "that yuu and I are about w place our­ luld any of the same 4ualiry be left, to forward it whim at once. Expense is nu con­ se lves in a position of some peri l?" <:ration. Th e importance of this w Dr J. can hardly be exaggerated. " So far the len er "You may sa y so, sir, indeed," returned the butler. J run composedly enough, but here with a sudden spluner of the pen, the writer's "It is well, then, that we sl1<1uld be frank ," ,aid the other. "We b,,th think mure

totion had broken loose. "For God 's sake," he had added, "find me some of the o ld." than we have said; let us make a clean breas t. This maskecl figure that ynu s<~w,di e! "This is a trange note," sa id Mr U tterson; and then sharply, "How do you come you recognise it?" have it upen ?" "W ell, sir, it went so quick, andc the reature was so cluuhled up, that I C<>uld "Th e man at Maw's was main angry, sir, and he threw it back to me like sn much hardly swear to that," was the answer. "But if you lllean, was it Mr Hyde?- why, yes, T," returned Poole. I think it was' You see, it was much oi the same bigness; ancl it hac! the sa me quick 1 "This is unquesriunabl y the doctor's hand, d,, you know ?" res umed the lawyer. light way with it; and then whu else could have got in by the labmat<~ryJ ,,nr Yuu '' I thought it looked like it," said the serva nt rather sulkily; and then , with an- have not forgot, sir, that at the time uf the murder he had >till rhe key wi th him ? Bur 1e r 1·oice, "Bur what matters hand of write," he said. "I've seen him!" that's nor all. I dun't know, Mr U tterson, if ever you met this Mr H ycle ?" "Seen him ?" repeated Mr U tterson . "Well ?" "Yes," said the lawyer, "I once spoke with him." "Th at's ir!" said Poo le. "lr was this way. I came sudden ly int,> the theatre from "Th en you must know as well as the rest of us that there wa> S

.: ga rden. lr seems he had slipped out to look for this drug or whatever it is; fur the about that gentlem;.~n-snmethingth at gave a man a turn- ! d,m't knull' rightly hml' hi net duor was npen , and there he was at the far end of the room cligg ing among w say it, sir, beyond this: that yuu felt it in your marrow kincl uf col,] and thin." .: crates. He looked up when I came in, ga ve a kind of cry, and whipped upstairs "I own I felt snmething of what yuu describe," sa id Mr Ut ter"m . m the cabinet. It was but for one minute that I saw him, but the hai r stood upon "Quite so, sir," returned Poole. "Well , when that masked thing like a nm nkey { head like 4uil b. Sir, if that was my master, why had he a mas k upon his face? If it jumped from among the chemicals and whipped into the cabinet, it we nt d<>wn my IS my mas ter, why did he cry out like a rat, and run from me? I have served him spine like ice. 0, I know it's not evidence, Mr Utterson; I'm hook-learned enough im 1g enough. And then ... "t he man paused and passed his hand over his face. that; but a man has his feelings, and I give you my bible-wore! ir wa> Mr Hyde! "

"Th ese are a ll very strange circumstances," said Mr U tterson, "but I think I begin "Ay, ay," said the lawyer. "My fears incline to the sa me pSe,Go cl alone can te ll ) •ice; hence the mask and his avoid ance of his friends; hence his eagerness to find is sti ll lurking in his vi ctim's wo m. We ll, let our name be vengeance. Call Bradshaw." is clrug, by means of which the poor soul reta ins some hope of ultimate recuvery­ Th e footman came at rhc summons, very whir.: and nerl'llu,. ,Kl grant that he be not deceived ! Th ere is my explanatiun; it is sad enough, Poole, "Pull yourself together, Bradshaw," sa id the lall'yer. "This suspetbe, I knllll', i> , and appa lling to w nsider; bur it is plain and natural, hangs well together and de­ telling upon all of you; but it is now our intention to make an end of it. P<>llie, here. •ers us fro m all exorbitant a larms." and I are guing to force our way inro the cabinet. If all is well, my sh,,uldcr, are hn>acl "Sir," said the butler, tumin g to a sort of mottled pallor, "that thing was not my enough to bear the blame. Meanwhile, les t anything , hould really be amis:;, or cm y aster, and there's the truth . My master"- here he looked round him and began to malefactor seek tn escape by the back, you r.\'i/ e give )"llU ten mpted to protest. "0 , sir," cried Poole, "do you think I do nor know my mas ter after minutes, to get to your stati ons." I KU2 Robert Louis Stevenson The Str:tnge C t'e of Dr Jekyll and /llr llvdc 11"\U:I

As Bradshaw left, the lawyer looked at his watch. "And now, Puole, let us ge t to by the crushed phiaP in the hand and the strung smell of kernels that hung upun the ours," he said; and taking the poker under his ann, he led the way into the yard . The air, Utte rson knew rhat he was looking un the body of a self-destroyer. scud had banked over the moon, and it was now quite dark. The wind, which only broke "We have come too late," he said sternly, "whether to save or punish. Hycle is in puffs ancl draughts into that deep well of building, tossed the light of the candle to gone to his accounr; and it only remains for us to find the bcxly of your master." and fro about their steps, until they came into the shelrer of the theatre, where they sat The far greater proporti on of the bui lding was occupi ed by the theatre, which fillecl dmvn silently to wait. London hummed solemnly all around; but nearer at hand, the almost the whole ground story and was lighted from above, and by rhe cabinet, which stillness was only broken by the sound of a footfa ll moving to and fro along the cabinet fonned an upper story at one end and looked upon the court. A corridor juined the the­ tlo"r. atre to the door on the bystreet; and with this, the cabiner communicated separately by "So it wi ll walk all day, sir," whispered Poole; "ay, and the be tter parr of the a second flight of stairs. There were besides a few dark closets and a spacious cellar. All n ight. O nly when a new sa mple comes fro m the chemist, there's a bit of a brea k. A h, these they now thoroughly examined. Each closet needed but a glance, for all wen; it's an ill-conscience that's such an enemy to rest! Ah, sir, there's blood foully shed in empry and all, by the dust that fell from their doors, had stood long unopened. The cel­ every step of it! But hark aga in , a little closer- put your hea rt in your ears Mr Utte r­ lar, indeed, was filled with crazy lumber, mostly dating from of the surgeon S\l ll , and tell me, is that the doctor's foot ?" who was Jekyll's predecessor; but even as they opened the dc,or, they were advertised ut T he steps fe ll lightly and odd ly, with a certain swing, f(,r all they went sn slowly; the uselessness of further search, by the fall of a perfect mat of Cc>bweb which had fpr ir was differenr indeed from the heavy crea king tread of Henry Jeky ll. Unerso n years sealed up the entrance. Nowhere was there any trace of Henry Jekyll, dead or alive. sighed. "Is there never anything else?" he asked. Pod e stamped on the flags of the corridor. "He must be buried here," he sa id, Poole nodded. "Once," he sa id. "Once I hea rd it weeping 1" hearkening to the sound. 1 "Weeping how that ?" sa id the lawyer, consciuus of a sudden chill uf horrur. "Or he may have fled," said Utrerson, and he turned to examine rhe doc)r in the "Weeping like a woman or a lost soul," sa id the butler. "I ca me away wirh that bystreet. It was locked; and lying near by on rhe Hags they fou nd the key,

. Cahllk'f" wit h gl,l..,~llunr~. 4 . .A frcc-..r ;tnd mg nun11r !lh )Unt.:d n n "'\ 1vd- 111.1 Jr.tllll' t v .,d, a small container lur liquid:-. JHll4 Rohen Loui' Stevenson T he: Strange Ctoe o t Dr Jekyl l Clll<.i, \Jr ll yde IHU'l

"You may say that !" sa id Poole. "lOth December, 18- Next they turned to the business table. O n the desk among the neat array uf "Dear Lanyon ,- You are une of my o ldest friends; and a lthough we may have papers, a large envelope was uppermost, and bore, in the docror's hand, the name of differed at times Lll1scient ific questions, I can n,)t remembe r, ar least on my side, any Mr Utterson. The lawyer unsealed it, and several enclnsures fell tu the floor. Th e first break in c>ur affection. Ther e wao never a day when , if yo u had sa id to me, 'Jekyll, was a will, drawn in rhe same eccentric tenns as rhe one which he had rerurned six my life, my h,mo ur, my rea:,on depend upon you,' I would nor han~sac rificed Ill ) month s before, to serve as a testament in case of death and as a deed of gift in case c)f fortune or my left hand tL1 help yo u. Lanyon , my life, my honour, my reason , are all disappearance; but in place of rhe nllme of Edward Hyde, the lawye r, with indescribable at you r mercy; if you fa il me to-night,l I am ost. You might suppuse, after this pref­ amazement, read the name of Gabriel John Utterson. He looked ar Paule, and then ace, th;.~tI am goin g to ask you for somethin g dishonourable m grant. Judge for back at the paper, and last of all at the dead malefactor stretched upon the carpet. yuurself. "My head goes round," he said. "He has been all these days in possession; he had "I want you to postpone ;.~IIother engagements for to-night-ay, even if you were no cause to like me; he must have raged ro see himse lf displaced; and he has nut de­ summoned ro rhe bedside of an emperor; to rake a cab, unleso your carriage should be struyed this document." actually ar the door; and with this letter in your hand for cunsultariun, ru dri ve He caught up the next paper; ir was a brief note in rhe ducror's hand and dared ar straight to my huuse. P<1ule, my butler, has his orders; you will find him wa iting yuur rhe rup. Poole!" rhe lawyer cried, "he was alive and here this day. He cannot have "0 arri val wirh a locksmith. The duur of my cabinet is rhen to be t~xced;and yo u are t<> been dispused of in so short a space, he must be still alive, he must have fled! And then , go in alum:; to open the glazed press (lerrer E) on the left hand, breaking rhe lock if it 1 why fled and how? and in thar case, can we venture ro declare this suicide ? 0 , we must be shut; and to draw out, with all its contents as the)' srand, the to urth drawer from the be careful. I foresee rhat we may yer in volve your master in some dire catastrophe." tup or (which is rhe same thing) the third from the burrom. In my extreme distress uf ''Why don't you read it, sir ?" as ked Poole . mind, I have a morbid fear of misdirecting you; but even if I am in error, you may "Because I fear," replied the lawyer solemnly. "God grant I have no cause for it!" know the right dra1ver by irs contents: some powders, a phial and a rap er bc>Pk. This And with that he brought the paper to his eyes and read as fo llmvs. ,]rawer I beg of you to carry back with you to Cavendish Square exuld be hack, if "My dear Utte rson,-W hen this shall fall into you r hands, I shall have disap­ you set our at uncc on the receipt of this, long befure midnigh t; bur I wi ll leave yuu r eared. under whar c ircumstances I have nor rhe penetration w furesee, but my in­ that amount of ma rgin, nut only in the fear of one of th ose obstacles that can nei ­ srincr and all rhe c ircumstances of my nameless siruariun tell me that rhe end is sure the r be prevented nor foreseen , bur because an hour when your servants arc in bee! and must be early. Go rhen, and first read the narrative which Lanyon warned me he is lll be preferred for what wi ll then remain tu do. At midnight , then , I have ro as k wll more leaving the servants gathered about rhe fire in rhe .hall, trudged back to his of­ away like a srnry that is told. Serve me, my dear Lanyon , and save fice to read rhe two narratives in which rh is mystery was now m be explained. "Your friend , "H.J. "P.::i. I had already sealed this up when a fresh terr,Jr struck upon my SLlUI. It is poosi- Doctor Lanyon s Narra tiue ble rhat the poor office may fail me, and this letter nor come into yu ur hancls until tu­ motTow murning. In that case, dear Lanynne , dn my rrand when it shall be moot con­ O n the ninth oi January, now fo ur days ago, I received by the evening delivery a reg­ ve ni ent fm yuu in the course of the day; and once more expect my mesoenger at istered envelope, addressed in rhe hand of my colleague and old se houl-companion , midnight . lr may rhen already be roo late; and if that night pasoes wirhuur event, Y

5 understooJ of this farrago, the less I was in a position to juJge uf its importance; and an apparent debili ty of constitution, and- last hut nor least- with the odd, subjective Llis­ appeal so worded could not he set aside without a grave responsibility. I rose accordingly turbance caused by his neighbourhood. This bo re some resemblance tu incipi ent rigm. 6 from table, got into a hansom, and drove straight to Jekyll's house. The butler was and was accompanied by a marked sinking L) f the pu lse. At the time, I set ir down ru awaiting my arrival; he had recei ved by the sa me post as mine a registered letter of in­ snme idiosyncratic, personal di staste, and merely wondered at the acuteness uf th.: struction, and had sent at once for a locksmith and a carpenter. The tradesmen came symptoms; but I have since had reason to believe the cause to lie much deeper in th.: while we were yet speaking; and we moved in a body to old Dr Denman's surgical the­ nature of man, and to turn on some nobler hinge than the principle uf hatred. arre, from which (as you are doubtless aware) Jekyll's private cabiner7 is most conve­ This person (who had thus, from the first momenr of his entrance, struck in me niently entered. The door was very strong, the lock excellent; the carpenter avowed he what I can only describe as a disgustful curiosity) was dressed in a fashion that "'''ukl would have great trouble and have to do much damage, if force were to be used; and the have made an ordinary person laughable: his clothes, that is to say, although they were locksmith was near despair. But thi.s last was a handy fellow, and after two hours' work, of rich and sober fabric, were enonnuusly too large for him in every measuremenr- rh.: the door stood open. The press marked E was unlocked; and I took out the drawer, had it trousers hanging on his legs and rolled up to keep them from the ground, the waist of th..: filled up with straw and tied in a sheet, and returned with it w Ca vendish Square. coat below his haunches, and the collar sprawling wide upon his shoulders. Strange r,, Here I proceeded to examine its contents. The powders were nearly enough made relate, this ludicrous accoutrement was far from moving me to laughter. Rather, as then: up, but nor with the nicety of the dispensing chemist; so that it was plain they were of was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature thar n. 'w Jekyll's private manufacture; and when I opened one of the wrappers, I found what faced me-so mething seizing, surprising and revolting- this fresh disparity se.: med hut

seemed tll me a simple, crystalline salt of a white colour. The phial, to wh ich I nex t to fit in with and to reinforce it; so that to my interest in the man's nature anLl chmactc>r, turned my attention, might have been about half-full of a blood-red liquor, which was there was added a curiosity as ro his origin, his life, his fortune and status in the world.

highly pungent to the sense of smell and seemed to me to cnntain phosphorus and some Th.:se observations, though they have taken so great a space to be set down in, w<:rt> vo latile ether. At the other ingredients, I could make no guess. The book was an ordi­ yet the work of a te w seconds. My visitor was, indeed, on fire wirh snmbre excirem..:n!. nary version hook and contained little hut a series of dates. These covered a period of "Have you got it ?" he cried. "Have ynu got it ?" And so live ly was his imparience many years, bur I observed that the entries ceased nearly a year ago and quite abruptly. thar he even la id his hand upon my arm and sought to shake me. Here and there a brief remark was appended to a date, usually no more than a single I put him back, consc ious at his wuch of a certain icy pang along my hJn.,d. word: "double" occurring perhaps six times in a total of several hundred entries; and "Come, sir," said I. "You forget that I have not yet the pl easure of your acquaintance. once very early in the list and fo llowed by several marks of exclamation, "total fail­ Be seated, if you please. " And I showed him an example, and sat down myself in my 1 ure!! " A ll this, though it whetted my curiosity, told me little that was definite. Here customary seat and with as fair an imitation of my ordinary manner to ~p anenr, '" were a phial of some tincture,s a paper of some salt, and the record of a series of experi­ the lateness of the hour, the nature of my preoccupations, and the horrur I hS. I come h.:r,· at could he not go to another? And even granting some impediment, wh y was this gentle­ the instance L,f your colleague, Dr Henry Jekyll, on a pi ece of business ,lf S<)lll t: lll(l ­ man tn be received by me in secret! The more I reflected, the more convinced I grew ment; and I unclersrond .. . " he paused and pur his hanLI tn his throat, and I cnui,J rhar I was dealing with a case of cerebral disease; and though I d ismissed m)' se rvants to see, in spite ,,f his collected mann er, that he was wrestling aga inst the appmache, of hed, I loaded an old revo lver that I might be found in some posture of self-defence. the hysteria- "! understood, a drawer ... " Twelve o 'clock had scarce rung out over London, ere the knocker sounded very But here I toomk pity on y visitor's suspense, and some perhaps .m my mvn grllw­ genrly on the door. I went myself at the summons, and found a small man crouching ing curi osity. against the pillars of the portico. "Th ere it is, sir," said I, po inting to the drawer, where it lay .m rhe tlunr behi nd a "Are you come from Dr Jekyll?" I as ked. tabl e and still covered with the sheet. He told me "yes" by a constrained gesture; and when I had bidden him enter, he He sprang to it, and then paused, and laid his hand upon his heart; I cnuld hea r did not obey me without a searching backward glance into the darkness of the square. his teeth gra te with rhe convulsive action of his jaws; and his face was so ghastl y tn Th ere was a policeman not far off, advancing with his hull's eyeY open; and at the see that I grew alarmed both for his life and reason. sighr. I thought my visitor started and made greater has te. "Cu mpose yourself," sa id I. These particulars struck me, I confess, disagreeably; and as Jf;,llmved him into the He turned a dreadful smile w me, and as if with the decisi,m ,,f cle,pai r, pluck.:.! li hrighr ght of the consulting room, I kept my hand ready on my weapon. Here, at last, away the: sheer. A t sight of the contents, he uttered une luud ,oh of , uch imm..:noc r.: ­ Ic had a hance of clearly seeing him. I had never set eyes on him before, so much was lief that I sat petrified. And the nex t moment, in a vo ice th::n was a Iread) f;m ly wL·II certa in. He was small, as I have said; I was struck besides with the shocking expression under cnntml , "Have you a graduated glass?" he asked. of his face, with his remarkable combination of great muscular activity and great I rose from my place with something of an effm t and gave him what h.: aok.:cl. He thanked me wi th a smi ling noel, measured out a few minims of the red tinc­

1. J-kxigt'pr,.Jgc. ture and adciccl one uf the powders. Th e mi xture, wh ich was ar first ,,fa red,Ji, h huL·, 8. An .-lcoh"/ ...... 1/u! tun; lur example. ti!K tun: 11f iu. .J mc.

6. Hor~~.:·-..lr awn ...:c~h. 9. P\1/t...:cm.m'...lanra n. began, in proportion as the crystals melted, to brighten in c.,lour, tu effen -coce audi­ 7. Oft tee. bly, and tu throw off small fumes nf vapuur. Suddenly anLI at rhc same H1lll1lt:nt, rh.: I HUll Robert Louis Sten :n>on The SirJnge Ccbt: of Dr jd.yll J!ld ,\ lr !!yd.: lllU~

ebullition ceased and the cumpound changecl to a dark purple, wh ich faded again honourable and distinguished future. A nd indeed rhe worst uf my faults was a certai n more sluwly to a watery green. My visitor, who had watched these metamorphoses impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happineos •.>f many , but such as I with a keen eye, smiled, se t duwn the glass upon the table, and then turned and found it hard to reconcile with my im perious deoire to carry my head high , and wear looked upon me with an air of sc rutiny. a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about "And now," sa id he, "to settle what remains. Will you be wise? will you be that l concealed my pleasures; and that when l reached years of reflectiun, and began guided ? will you suffer me to take this glass in my hand and to go forth from your to look round me and take stock of my progress and positinn in the world , I sroud al­ house without further parley? or has the greed of curiosity too much command of ready committed to a profound duplicity of life. Many a man would have even bla­ you ? Think before you answer, for it shall be done as you decide. As you decide, you zoned such irregularities as l was guilty of; but from the high views that l had set be- shal l be left as you were before, and neither richer nor wiser, unless the sense of ser­ fore me, I rega rded and hid them with an almos t morbid oense elf shame. It was thus vice rendered to a man in mortal distress may be counred as a kind of riches of the rather the exacting nature of my aspirations than any particular degradation in my soul. O r, if yo u shall so prefer to choose, a new province of knowledge and new av­ faults, that made me what l was and, with even a deeper trench than in the majority enue:, to fame and power shall be laid open to you, here, in this room, upo n the in­ of men, severed in me those provinces of guod and ill wh ich diviLle and compound stant; and your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy tu stagger the unbelief of Satan." man's dual nature. In this case, l was dri ven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that "Sir," said I, affecting a coolness that l was far from truly pussessing, "you speak hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion and is one uf the must plentiful enigmas, and you wi ll perhaps not wonder that l hear yu u with no ve ry strong im­ springs of distress. Th ough so profound a double-dealer, l was in nu sense a hypocrite; pressiun uf belief. But I have gone too far in the way of inexplicable services to pause both sides of me were in dead earnest; l was no more myself when I laid as ide re­ before I see the end." straint and plunged in shame, that when l laboured, in the eye of day, at the further­ ''It is well ," replied my visitor. "Lanyo n, you remember yuur vows: what follows is ance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering. And ir chanced that the di ­ under the seal of our pr,l ess ion. And nuw, you whu have su long been bound to the rection of my scientific studies, which led wholly tuwards the mystic and the most narrow and material views, you who have denied the vi rtue lJf transcendental transcendental, reacted and shed a strong light on this Cllnsc i,lusness of rhe perennial med icine, you who have Llerided your superiors- behold!" war among my members. With every day , and from both oides ,J( my intelligence, the He put the glass to his lips and drank at one gulp. A cry followed; he reeled, stag­ moral and the intellectual, [ thus drew steadily nearer tu that truth, by whc1se partial gered, cl utched at the table and held on, staring with inj ected eyes, gasping with discovery I have been doomed tll such a dreadful shipwreck: that rnan io not trul y open mouth; and as l loukeJ there came, l thought, a change- he seemed to swe ll­ one, but truly two. [ say two, because the state of my own knuwledge does nut paso his face became suddenly black and the features seemed to melt and alter- and the beyond that po int. O thers will follow, others will uurstrip me un the same lines; and l next moment, l had sp rung to my feet and leaped back aga inst the wall , my arm haza rd the guess that man will be ultimately known fo r a mere puliry of multifil}i<'us, raised to shield me from that prodigy, my mind submerged in terror. incongruous and independent den izens. l for my part, from rhe nature of my life, ugh and prim iti ve duality I restored fro m death- there stood Henry Jekyll ! of man; l saw that, of the two natures that omt endeLl in the fielcl of my consc ious- j W hat he told me in the next hour, l cannot bring my mind to se t on paper. l saw ness, even if l could rightly be said tu be either, it wa> only because I was rad ica lly \

what I saw, l heard what l heard, and my so ul sickened at it; and yet now when that bnth; and from an early date, even before the course of my sc ient ific Llisw ve ries had '1 sight has faded from my eyes, l ask myse lf if l believe it, and l cannot answer. My life begun to suggest the most naked possibi lity of such a miracle, l had lea rned tu dwel l

is shaken to its roots; sleep has left me; the dead liest terror sits by me at all hours of with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thuught of the sepa ration of these ~le­ rhe day and night; l feel that my days are numbered, and that l must die; and yet l ments. If each, l told myse lf, could but be housed in separate identities, life woukl be shall die incredulous. As for the moral turpitude that man unveiled to me, even with relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust mi ght go his way, deli vered from rhe rears of penitence, l cannot, even in memory, dwell on it without a start of horror. l aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the juot could walk steadfasrly will say but une thing, Utterson, and that (if you can bring your mind to credit it) and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found hi > plea­ will be more than enough. Th e creature who crept into my house that night was , on sure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extrane- Jekyll's own confession, known by the name of H yde and hunt ed fur in every corner ous evil. It was the curse of mankind that these inccmgruous fagguts were rhus bound of the land as the murderer of Carew. together- that in the agonised womb nf consciuusneos, theoe po lar twins shnuld be _ ..J H ASTI E L ANYON continuously struggling. How, then, were they dissoc iated ?

l was so far in my reflections when, as l have said, a side light b~gan to sh ine Henryj ek_yll 's Full Sttttemen t of the Case upon the subject from the laboraw ry table. l began to perceive more Lleeply than ir has ever yet been stated, the trembling immateriality, the mist-like transience, ,,f this I was burn in the year 18- to a large fortune, endowed bes ides with excellent parts, 1 seemingly so so lid body in which we walk att ired. Ce rtain ag~ntsI fuund to have the inclined by nature to industry, fnnd nf the respect of the wise and good among my fel­ power to shake and to pluck back that fleshly ,·estmenr, even ao a wind mtght ruso low-men, and thus, as might have been supposed, with every guarantee uf an the curtai ns of a pavilli on. For two good reasons, l wi ll not enter deeply into this sci­

l. T ctlcm~o r d!--tlmcs. entific branch of my confess ion. First, because l have been made to learn that the lHlO J{oben Loub Steven~on The Slrange C:.1seof Urj c:kyll :.~ndMr H yde Hill

doom and burthen of our life is hound fo rever on man's shuuklers, and when the at­ tenth s a life of effort, vi rtue and control, it had been much less exercised and much tempt is made w cast it off, it but returns upon us with more unfamiliar ami more aw­ less exhausted. And hence, as I think , it came abour that Edward Hyde was so much ful press ure. Second, because as my narrative will make alas! too evident, my discov­ smaller, slighter and younger than Henry Jekyll. Even as good shone upon the coun­ eries were incomplete. Enough, then, that I not only recognised my natura l body for tenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other. Evil

rhe mere aura and effulgence of certain of the powers that made up my spirit, but besides (wh ich l must still believe to be the letha l side of man) had left lln that b,~y managed to cum pound a drug by which these powers should be dethroned fro m their an imprint of deformity and decay. And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the supremacy, and a second form and countenance substituted, none the less natural ro glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome. This, too, was ( me because they were the expression, and bore the stamp, of lower elements in my myse lf. It seemed natural and human. In my eyes it bure a livelier image <)f the >pirit, soul. it seemed more express and single, than the imperfect and divided countenance, I '-- I hesitated long before I put this theory to the rest of practice. I knew well that I had been hitherto accustnmed to call mine. And in so far I was doubtless right. I have risked death; for any drug that so poten tly controlled and shook the very fo rtress of observed that when I wore the semblance of Edward H yde, none could come near to identit y, might by the least scruple of an over-dose or at the least inopportunity in me at first without a visible misgiving of the flesh. This, as I take it, was because all the moment of exhibition, utterly blot out that immaterial tabernacle which I looked human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: re with the character, the drank uff the poti on. stature and the face of Henry Jekyll. Th e m<)St racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a Th at night I had come to the fatal cross roads. Had I approached my di scovery in h<>rro r of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Th en these a more noble spirit, had I risked the experiment while under the empire of generuus agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myse lf as if of death There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, and birth, I had come forth an angel instead of a fiend. T he drug had no discriminat­

from its very novelty, incredibly sweer. I fe lt yo unger, lighter :1 _;_~ithin ing action; it was neither diabolical nor divine; ir but shoc1k the d,1ors of the prison­ I was conscious of a heady reckless ness, a current isQrdered sensual images -,:un­ house of my dispositi un; and like the capti ves of Philippi, 1 that which stoPd within

ning lik"e a rmtll':lc~in my-fancY, aso lution ofr he bonds of obligati~:m,a n- unknuwn ran forth. At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, was but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was Edward life, to he more wicked, tenfo ld mo re wicked, sold a slave to my origina l evil; and the Hyde. Hence, although l had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. l stretched out my wholly evil, and the other was still the o ld Henry Jekyll, that incongru<)US C

Th ere was no mirro r, at that date, in my room; that which stands beside me as I Even at that time, I had not yet con4uered my aversinn to rhe dryness <)t <1 life of write, was brought there later on and for the very purpose of these transformati ons. study. I would still be merri ly disposed at times; and as my pleasures were (rn say the Th e night, however, was fa r gone into the morning- the morning, black as it was, least) undignified, and l was not on ly well known and highly considered, but growi ng was nearly ripe for the conception of the day- the inmates of my house were locked towards the elderly man, this incoherency of my life was da ily growing more unwel­ in rhe most rigorous hours of slumber; and I determined, flushed as I was with hope come. It was on this side that my new power tempted me until I fell in slavery. I had and triumph , to venture in my new shape as far as to my bedroom. I crossed the yard , but to drink the cup, to doff at once the body of the noted professor, and to assume, wherein the constellations looked down upon me, I could have thought, with won­ like a thick cloak, that of Edward Hyde. I smiled at the not inn; it seemed to me at the der, the first creature of that sort that their unsleeping vigilance had yet disclosed to time to be humorous; and l made my preparations with the most studious care. I took them; I stole through the corridors, a stranger in my own house; and coming to my and furn ished that house in Soho, to which Hyde was tracked by the police; and en­ room, I saw fur the first time the appearance of Edwa rd Hyde. gaged as housekeeper a creature whom I well knew to be silent and unscru pu k)us. O n I must here speak hy theory alone, saying not that which I know, but that which the other side, l announced to my servants that a Mr Hyde (whom I described ) was I suppose to be mus t probable. Th e evil side of my nature, to which l had now trans­ to have fu ll liberty and power about my hnuse in the square; and to parry mishaps, I te rred the stamping efficacy, was less robust and less developed than the good which I even called and made myse lf a fami liar object, in my second character. l next drew up had just deposed. Again, in the course of my life, which had been, after all, nine · that will to which you so much objected; so that if anything befell me in the person of Ductnr Jekyll, I cuuld enter on that of Edward Hyde without pecuniary l

1 Frm.:dul Lh.lnl~t.:ln f warer rhar lllrm a mdl wlwd. ~.Th~: aro., de Paul allli lw· hliln\~l.'r:.-Ml' freed fwm a pri~onin Philippi h) ,\lll::trfhqudki.' ( r\ C[io \6). 18 12 Robert Lo uis Ste,·enson Tire Str~ngcC "c o f Dr jekyll and ;\lr Hyde l tilj

:hus fort ified, as l supposed, on every side, l began to profit by the srrange immunities morning duze. I was still so engaged when , in one of my more wakeful muments, my >f my position. eye fell upnn my hand. Now the hand of Henr y Jekyll (as you have ufren remarked ) Men have before hired bravos ro transact their crimes, wh ile their own person was professional in shape and size: it was large, firm, white and comely. But the hand md reputation sat under shelter. I was the first that ever did so for his pleasures. I was which I now sa w, clearly enough, in the yellow light of a mid-Lmdun morning, lying he first that could rhus plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability, half shut on the bed clothes, was lean, curded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly md in a moment, like a schoolboy, suip off these lendings-l and spring headlong inro shaded with a swart growth of hair. It was the hand of Edwarcl H yde. he sea of liberty. But for me, in my impenetrable manrle, the safety was complete. I must have stared upon it fur near half a minute, sunk as l was in the mere stu­ fhink of it- ! d id not even exist 1 Let me but escape into my laboratory door, give me pidity of wonder, before terror woke up in my breast as sudden and startling as the 1ut a second or two to mix and swallow the draught that l had always standing ready; crash of cy mbals; and bounding from my bed, l rushed to the mirror. A t the sight that md whatever he had done, Edward Hyde would pass away like the stain of breath met my eyes, my blood was changed into somethin g exquisitely thin and icy. Yes, I rpon a mirror; and there in his stead, qui erly at home, trimming the midnight lamp hac! gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde. How was this w be ex­ n his study, a man who could afford to laugh at suspicion, would be Henry Jekyll. plained! I asked myoelf; and then, with anclther bound of rerrur- how was it w be / Th e pleasures which I made haste ro seek in my disguise were, as l have sa id, remedied ? It was we ll of my judgment;' and l began to retl ecr more seriously than ever before carce gram that I committed it) I have no design of entering. I mean bur w point on the iosues and possibilities of my double existence. Th at part of me which I had 'ut the warnings and the successive steps with which my chastisement approached. I the power

1hom I recognised the other day in the person of your kinsman; the doctor and the and I began ru spy a danger that, if this were much prolunged, the balance of my n~l­ hild's family joined him; there were moments when l feared for my life; and at las t, tu re might be permanentl y overthrown, the puwer of vo luntary change be forfeited, 1 order to pacify their w o just resentment , Edward H yde had to bring them to the and the character of Edward H yde become irrevocably mine. T he power of the drug our, and pay them in a cheque drawn in the name of Henr y Jekyll. But this danger had nor been always equally displayed. O nce, very early in my career, it had rurally ras easily eliminated from the future, by open ing an account at another bank in the failed me; since then l had been obliged on more than one occasion tfthi s illusion, occasionally, even as I did so, dropping back into a comfortable gusto, projected and shared in the pleasures and adventures of H yde; bur Hyde \\'as

:-., .J g:- 11f re~rccr,lhliirr. ..1r T 1m1, 1-::in ~·II C:lolhe anJ , ,..n dw rr:-arrm A t (he sighr uf the raggc:J h:ggJr J\ g Lear tmc ht' ) . P,d,Ju::.lr, kin!.! ,~fBahd,m, 1:-..,h,Kkc~lh~the ,Lprc:Lwno..:c ,J( a J i\·inL' hanJ writin;..: my:-!L'rtt1u" \nlrJ ..., m th~.:!'al.u:L· \\ .dL l lthc::., cryi ng "Otf, l.lff you !endings" (King Lear 3.4.1 12). rhe rn.1phet Dame! Lnh.:rprL·r:. rhe word:-

1different ro Jekyll, or bur remembered h im as the mountain bandit remembers the and as he drank it, pledged the dead man. The pangs of transtcmnation had not done JVern in which he conceals himself from pursuit. Jekyll had more than a father's in­ rearing him, befme Henry Jekyll, with streaming tears of gratitude and remorse, had ·rest; Hyde had more than a son's indifference. To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to God. T he ve il of self-indulgence ie to those appetites which I had long secred y indulged and had of late begun to was rent from head to foot, I saw my life as a whole: I followed it up from the days of amper. To cast it in with H yde, was to d ie to a thousand interests and aspirations, childhuocl, when I had walked with my father's hand, and thwugh the self-denying tuils nd to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless. Th e barga in might ap­ of my professional life, to arrive again and again, with the same sense of unreality, at the ear unequal; but there was still another consideration in the sca les; for while Jekyll damned horrors of the evening. I could have screamed aloud; I sought with rears and ·ould suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even consc ious prayers to smother down the crowd of hideous images and sounds with which my mem­ f all that he had lost. Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are ory swarmed against me; and still, between the peti tions, the ugly face of my iniquity ; o ld and commonplace as man; much the same inducements and alarms cast the die stared into my soul. As the acuteness of this remorse began to die away, it was succeeded 'r any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a by a sense of joy. The problem of my conduct was solved. Hyde was thencefo rth impossi­ 1ajority of my fe llows, that l chose the better part and was fou nd wanting in the ble; whether I would or not, I was now confined to the better part of my ex istence; ancl Tength to keep to ir. 0, how I rejoiced to think it! with what willing humiliry, I embraced anew the restric­ Yes, I preferred the elderly and discon ten ted doctor, surrounded by fri ends and tions of natural life! with what sincere renunciation, I locked the door by which I had SD herishing honest hopes; and bade a resolu te farewe ll to the liberty, the comparative often gone and come, and ground the key under my heel! Duth, the light step, leaping pulses and secret pleasures, that l had enj oyed in the Th e next day, came the news that the murder had been overlooked, that the isguise of H yde. I made this cho ice perhaps with some unconsc ious reservation, for I guil t nf Hyde was patent to the world, and that the victim was a man high in puhlie ei ther gave up the house in Sohdo, nor estroyed the clothes of Edward H yde, which estimation. It was not onl y a crime, it had been a trag ic fo lly. I think I was glad tn :ill lay ready in my cabinet. For two month s, however, I was true to my determina­ know it; I think I was glad to have my better impulses rhus buttressed and guarded by lon; for two month s, I led a life of such severity as I had never before atta ined to, and the terrors of the scaffo ld. Jekyll was now my city of refuge; let but Hyde peep out an njoyed the compensations of an approving consc ience. But time began at last to instant, and the hands of all men would be raised to take and slay him. hliterare the freshness of my alarm ; the praises of conscience began to grow in to a I resolved in my future conduc t to redeem the past; and I can say with hnnesty bing of course; l began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of H yde struggling that my resolve was fruitful of some good. You know yourself how earnestly in the last fter freedom; and at last, in an hour of moral weakness, l once aga in compounded months of last year, I laboured to relieve suffering; yo u know that much was done fnr nd swallowed the transforming draught. others, and that the clays passed quietl y, almost happily for myse lf. Nor can I truly say I do not suppose that, when a drunkard reasons with himse lf upon his vice, he is that I wearied of this beneficent and innocent life; I think instead that I da ily en­

·nee L1Ut of five hundred times affected by the dangers that he runs th rough his brutish, joyed it more complete ly; but I was still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the ·hysical insensibility; neither had l, long as I had considered my position, made enough first edge of my pen itence wo re off, the lower side of me, so long indulged, SLl recently llowance for the complete moral insensibility and insensate read iness to evil, which chained clown, began to growl for license. Not that l dreamed of resusc itating H yde; ;ere the leading characters of Edward Hyde. Yet it was by these that I was punished. the bare idea of that would startle me ro frenzy: no, it was in my own person, that I Ay devil had been long caged, he came out roaring. I was conscious, even when I took was once more tempted to trifle with my conscience; and it was as an md inary secret he draught, of a more unbridled, a more furious propensity m ill. It must have been sinner, that I at last fe ll before the assaults of temptation. his, l suppose, that stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I listened Th ere comes an end to all things; the most capac ious measure is filled at last; n the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare at least, before God, no man morally and this brief condescension to my evil fi nally des troyed the ba lance of my Sl1ul. A nd

<~ne could have been guilty of rhar crime upon so pitiful a provocation; and that I yet I was not alarmed; the fall seemed natural, like a return to the old days befnre I truck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a sick child may break a play­ had made my discovery. It was a fine, clear, January day, wet under foot where the bing. But I had vo luntarily stripped myse lf of all those balancing insti ncts, by which frost had melted, but cloud less overhead; and the Regent 's park was fu ll of winter ·ven the worst of us continues to walk with some degree of steadiness among tempta­ chirruppi ngs and sweet with Spring odours. I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal inns; and in my case, to be tempted, however slightly, was to fall. within me licking the chops of memory; the spiri tual side a little drowsed, promising Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged. With a transport of glee, I mauled subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin. After all , l reflected l was like my he unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow; and it was not till weariness had neighbours; and then I smiled , comparing myself with other men, w mparing my ac ­ >egun ro succeed, that I was suddenly, in the top fit of my deliri um, struck th rough the tive goodwill with the lazy cruelty of their neglect. And at the very moment Llf that 1eart by a cold thrill of terror. A mist dispersed; I saw my life to be forfeit; and fled from va inglorious thought, a qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadl y he scene of these excesses, at once glorying and trembling, my lust of evil gratified and shuddering. The se passed away, and left me faint; and then as in its turn the f<~intness -timulated, my love of life screwed to the topmost peg. I ran to the house in Soho, and subsided, I began to be aware of a change in the temper of my thoughts, a greater . to make assurance doubly sure) destroyed my papers; thence I set out through the lam­ boldness, a contempt nf danger, a solution of the bonds of obligation. I looked down; ' lit streets, in the sa me divideLI ecstasy of mind, gloating on my crime, lighr-heacleclly my clothes hung fo rmlessly on my shrunken limbs; the hand that lay on my knee was levising others in the fut ure, and yet still hastening and still hearkening in my wake for corded and hairy. I was nnce mme Edward Hyde. A moment before I had been safe, ,f ·he >teps of the avenger. Hyde had a song upon his lips as he compounded the draught, all men's respect, wealthy, be loved- the clmh laying for me in the dining room at l t>16 Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and !'vir Hyde [1)17

home; and now I was the common 4uarry uf mankind, hunted, houseless, a known me. It was no longer the fear of the ga lluws, it was the hmror of being Hyde that murderer, thrall to the ga llows. racked me. I received Lanyon's condemnatiun partly in a dream; it was partly in a My reason wavered, but it did nor fail me utterly. I have more than once ob­ dream that I came home to my own house and got into bed. I slept after the pros­ served that, in my second character, my faculties seemed sharpened to a point and tration of the day, with a stringent and pmft>und slumber which nor even the my spirits more tensely elastic; thus it came about that, where Jekyll perhaps might nightmares that wrung me could avail to break. I awoke in the morning shaken, have succumbeLl, Hyde rose to the importance of the moment. My drugs were in one weakened, but refreshed. I still hated and feared the thnught nf the brute that slept of the presses of my cabinet; huw was I to reach them ? Th at was the problem that within me, and I had not of course forgotten the appalling dangers of the day be­ (crushing my temples in my hands) I set myse lf to solve. Th e laborarory door I had fo re; bur I was once more at home, in my own house and close to my drugs; and closed. If I so ught to enter by the huuse, my own se rvants would consign me to the gratitude for my escape shone so stro ng in my soul that it almost rivalled the ga llows. I sa w I must employ another hand, and thought of Lanyon. How was he to brightn ess of hope. be reached ? how persuaded ? Supposing that I escaped capture in the streets, how was I was stepping leisurely across the Cllurt after breakfast, drinking the chill of the I to make my way into his presence? and how should I, an unknown and displeasing air with pleasure, when I was seized again with those indesc ribable sensations that visitor, prevail on the famous physician to rifle the study of his colleague, Dr Jekyll 1 heralded the change; and I had but the time to gain the shelter of my cabinet, before Th en I remembered that of my original character, one part remained to me: I could I was once again raging and freezing with the pas>iHnns of yde. It tuuk on this occa­ write my own hand; and once I had conceived that kindling spark, the way that I sion a double dose to recall me to myself; and alas, six hours after, as I sat looking must follow became lighted up frum end to end. sadly in the fire, the pangs returned, and the drug had tll be re-administered. In Th ereupon, I arranged my clothes as best I could, and summoning a passing short, from that day forth it seemed only by a great effort as of gymnastics, and nnl y hansom, drove to an hotel in Portland street, the name of which I chanced to re­ under the immediate stimulation of the drug, that I was able to wear the cnunre­ member. At my appearance (which was indeed comi cal enough, however trag ic a nance of Jekyll. At all hours of the day and night, I wuuld be taken with the pre­ fate these garments covered) the driver could not conceal his mirth. I gnashed my monitory shudder; above all, if I slept, or even dozed for a moment in my chair, it teeth upon him with a gust of devilish fury; and the smile withered from his face­ was always as Hyde that I awakened. Under the strain uf this C

That child of Hell had nothing human; nothing lived in him but fear and hatred. This was the shocking thing; that the slime of the pit seem~d to utter cries and A nd when at last, thinking the driver had begun to grow suspicious, he discharged voices; that the amorphous dust gesticul ated and sinned; that what was dead, and the cab and ve ntured on foot, att ired in his misfi tting clothes, an nbjecr marked nut had no shape, shuuld usurp the offices of life. And this aga in , rhm that insurgent fur observa ti on, intu the midst of the nocturnal passengers, these two base pass ions horror was knit to him cluser than a wife, close r than an eye; lay caged in his fle sh, raged within him like a tempest. He walked fast, hunted by his fears, chattering to where he heard it mutter and felt it struggle to be born; and at every h<>ur of weak­ h imself, skulking through the less frequented thoroughfares, counting the minutes ness, and in the confidence of slumber, prevailed against him, and depo;,ed him

6. Mar~h.: :-., ctiSI ) ..:allt:d lu..:ikr:-... death, he would long ago have ruined h imself in order to involve me in the ruin. But u,ca r \\ ilde ! HI') 18 1ti

was a famous surgeon, fatherecl three illegitimate chilclren, and was ,ued hy a tonner patient who his love of life is wo nderful; I go further : I, wh n sicken and freeze a t the mere claimed he had drugged and raped her. Lady Wilde, who changed her name from Jane France, tu tho ugh t uf him , whe n I reca ll th e abjec tiun and passion uf this attac hm en t, and Speranza Francesca, was a self-dramatizing and unconventional woman whom her son adur~,l. when I know how he fears my power to cut h im o ff by suic ide, l find it in m y h eart to Wilde was ed ucated in Ireland until 1874 when he won a scholarsh ip to Oxt(Jrd. Here he lx­ pity him . gan to establish a reputation as an Aesthete and an admirer of Pre- Raphadi te poets such as Swin­ It is useless, and the time awfull y fails me, prolong this descripticm; n n one h as w burne, Rossetti, and William Morris. He was also attracted ro the contrad ictory artistic creecls of ever suffe recl suc h wrments , let th at suffice; and yet eve n to th ese, habit broughr ­ both John Ruskin an,! Walter Parer, Ruskin proclaiming that all good art is moral art, Parer pre­ nu, nor a llev iation - but a certa in ca llo usn ess of soul , a certain acquiescence nf de­ ferring "poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for art's sake." Wilde dressed nsrenta­ spair; and my puni shment might have gone on for years, bur for the last ca la mity riously, wore his hair long, and decorated his rooms wirh lilies, a favorite symbol of the Aesthetes. which has now fa llen, and whic h has fina ll y severed me fmm m y own face and na­ His literary abilities won him both rhe Newdigare Prize for and a double first (highest hon­ ture. My provision uf th e sa lt, which h ad neve r been re newed since the dare of rhe ors). But along with these academic awards he was celebrated for a remark wh ich seemed ro epi r­ first expe riment , began to run lo w. I sent o ur for a fresh supply, and m ixed rhe omi:e aestheticism: "I find it harder and harder every day ro live up ro my blue china." Jra ughr; rhc eb ull itio n fo llo wed , and the first ch ange of co lour, n or the second ; l Following his triumphs at Oxford, Wilde cast about for a career. His father hac! clied leal·­ Jrank it and it was with o ut effi c iency. You will learn from Poo le h ow l have h ad Lnn ­ ing only a small inheritance, and W ilde's attempts ro win a university fell owship failed. In Jo n ransacked; it was in vain; a nd l ~ persuaded that m y fi rst supply was im­ London he set about making himself conspicuous, and soon he was the center of the soc ial pure, und th at it was rha r unkn own i~~ hich lent efficacy to th e drau ght. scene. Few could help being da:zlcd by his winy com·ersation. Yet some were skeptical, includ­ A ho ur a week has passed, and l am now finishin g this state ment und er the influ­ ing an actress who said : "What has he done, this young man, that one meets him e1·erywhere ? : ncc of the last of the o ld po wders. Thi s, th en, is the last time, sh ort of a miracle, rhar O h yes he talks we ll, bur what has he done? He has written nothing. he does not sing or pai nt Henry Je kyll can think his o wn thoughts or see his own face (now ho w sad ly a lte red!) or ac t- he does nothing but mlk." in the glass. Nnr m ust I de lay tou lnng rn bring m y writin g to an end ; fo r if m y narra­ Wilde's t;cdk, however, wa,., glorious and eventually wou ld finJ lasting expression in hi :-. til·c has hith erto escaped desrruc ti. Meanwhile, he played the dandy, and was sariri:ed by G ilbert and Sulli1·cm in Parien.:.: md great guod luck. S ho uld th e throes of change rake me in rhe act of writing ir, ( 188 1) as the must illusuious Aesthete of the day, who had walked "Jown Piccadilly with a H yde will rea r it in pieces; bur if some rime shall h ave e lapsed after I h ave laid ir by, puppy or a lily in his medieval hand." Wi lde reacted with guoJ humm, observing thar "To have done ir was n<>rhing, but rn make people think one had done it was a triumph." h i, wnnderful selfishn ess a nd c ircumscriptiun tu the m nmenr wi ll probab ly save ir In rhe early 1880s Wilde began ro refute the charge thar he did nothing hut ra lk. He \\T<>l\' .mce again from rhe act io n of his ape like spire. And indeed th e eloo m that is d osing his first play, called Vo?ra; or, The Nihilisr.s ( 1880), about Russian c:ars and ren>luriomr ie,; rh,· .m us both , has a lready ch ange d and c rushed him. H a lf an hour from now, when l

play's portrayal of an assass inmi<>na ncmpr made it politically unacc~prabk,a nd the pn -.lucri,,n ;ha ll aga in and t(>reve r re indu e rhar h ated person a lity, l know how I sha ll sir shudd e r­ was canceled. He pri vatel y published a honk ,,f poenb in 188 1. opening with rhe "' nne·r Heltt), 1886 and returned home inrernarionally fam<>us. Wilde followed up his conquest of A merica with a few mom h, in Pari,, where he met many leaJing pa inters and writers. Back in LnnJo n , anJ short ,)f mnney nnce .1gain, hi:­ I £Z: ;J;::r I - thoughrs turned ro marriage, and in 1884 he wed C<>nsrancc Lloyd. She "·a, well e,lucared .m,J well-off, and at first W ilde enjoyed the new r<>les ufhu shanJ

Oscar Wilde anJ Vyvyan. Bur he :-toon found marrieJ life a bore. E\·en during hi~h cn1eyrn\)Dn in Pari :, hi:, thoughts were elsewhere: he became enamored uf a hook known as the Ribk of decadence, A 1854- 1900 Rebours ( 1884) by Joris-Karl Huysmans. As his biographer Richar,l EI!Jwmn has put it, thi,

book <\summoned him towards an undergrounJ life.'' "I k hasn't a single recleeming ,·ice." Oscar Wikle's witticism hardly applie,l to himself: his

Wilde was a celebrity. He spent several yea rs lecturing ancl re,·i~wing,r hen enterccl the ck ·1racter was a L}uixotic mixture uf brilliance an~..lf olly. Flamboyant, cx tra\'aga nt, uutrageous, most inventive peritxl of his life. Although he wnu ld later remark, "I hm·~put only my raknt th~m o;t splend id playwright nf the ce ntury livecl his own life on center stage. Though his fla­ into my works. I hc:~veput my genius into my life," the crear ive wdrk nf the earl y 189('1:, bd 1c:, arant se Jf,prnmn tion irritclted many, he was generous and gocx._i,naturcJ, unahle to im<:1gine him. He articulated his the,>rie> on Art and Nature in two diak>gue' full ,,f rrnn>eatil·c parsay The 'i01d Wi lcle was hom in Dublin, and although he spent muc h of his a,lult life in England, he of Man Under Socialism ( 1891) he argueel that the final goal of >al c1·olminn ".", j<>)Wt> ne,·cr J,>st the sense of himself as a ti>reigner. His parents- Irish Prnreswnts, ardent national­ indi1·idualism. He continue,! his exploration of the relation of art t<>!tfe in hi, unly twvcl. ist>, and prolific writers- were notable figures in their own right: Sir William Robert Wilde Impression clu Marin IH21 1820 Osc~r \Xi i Ide

His obsession with the young aristocrat- beautiful, vicinus, and volatile- had been ru­ inous in every sense. Wilde was disgraced and bankrupted. So grem was the collectiw repug­ nance for him that both of his currently running plays, An Ideal HHsband and The Impurwnce uf Being Eamest, were obliged to close. Bur the nighrmare was only beginning: following the puh­ lic humi liation of the trials was the hnrror of prison. Confined in a small cell with a ha re plank bed, revolting food, ancl no larrine, he suffered constantly from diarrhea. He was allowed only nne twenty-minute visit every three months. No talking was permitted. Dreading that he might lose his sanity, W ilde pleaded in va in for early release. He gave vent rn his sufferings in a long letter to E\1uglus entitled De Prufundis. It is a terrible in­ dicnnent of Douglas's selfish behavinr, bur more than that it is an autobiography, rhe angubheJ con­ fession of a soul coming face ro face with itself. Painfully he rev iews the e\·enrs thar led to his down­ fall, finding at last his own sulvation in forgiveness: "I don't write this letter to put bittemcos into your heart, bur to pluck it our of mine. For my own sake I must forgive you." W ilde was allowed ro rake the letter with him when he left prison, but chose not to have it published until ati:er hi, dearh . W ilde emerged from the degradation of prison a broken and penniless man. He spent the remainder of his life in exile outside Britain. He was never again allowed t•' see his you ng sotb, and their surname was changed to protect them from scandal. A ll but a few j,,ya l friend, shunned him. The man who had lavished champagne on his friends was reduced tll scrounging drinks from strangers who pitied him. He was unable to resume h is writing, except for The Bal­ lad of neading Gaol ( 1898), a long poem based upon his prison ex perience. He converted '' ' Cathulicism on his dea thbed, in a Paris hotel, but continued bravely invenr ing wittier"'" to the end: "I am dying beyond my means."

For additional resources on Wilde, including a selection from The Decu)' of Lying. go tu Lir Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred The Longman Anchology of Brirish enuure Web sire at www.mylirerature kit.cnm. Dougla>, 1893. • Impression du Matin 1 Th e Th a mes noc turn e of blue and gold

Th~Pi c LUre of Dorian Gray ( 1890), which tells of a promising golden boy fascinated by these­ C h anged to a h armon y in gray:l ductively amoral ideas of a jaded cy ni c. Dorian makes a Faustian barga in: his corrupted soul A harge with oc hre-co lo ured h ay will be mim>red, nut in his own face- he remai ns etemally youthful- but in his portrait. 0 Dropt from the wharf: and chill and co ld urcnc Jown.stn•t~m Much influenced by A. nebours, Dorian Gray achieved instantaneous notoriety, nor so much for its aestheticism as for its thinly ve iled suggestions of homosex uality. Th e ye llow fog came c reeping down L.tuly Windermere's Fan ( 189 1) met witho the pposite reception: this sparkling comedy de­ Th e bridges, till th e ho uses' walls picting a mother's secret sacrifice for her daughter was an immed iate success. Inspired in parr See med ch anged to shadows and Sr. Pa ul 's by the French symbvlist poet, Stcphane Mallarme, W ilde was also writing- in French-a very Loo med like a bubble o'e r the town. different play, Salome, ahout the fatal perversity of love and desire. To Wilde's indignation, Th en sudden ly arose th e clan g Salome was banned in England. However, in 1894 he published an English translation, with 10 Of waking life; th e streets were stirred dra matic and daring illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. With co untr y wagons: and a bird Wilde wrote two more comedies, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband , fol­ Flew to the glisten ing roofs and sang. lowetl by his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Eamest (1 895 ). Its philosophy, Wilde sa id, is "Ths at we hould treat all tri vial things very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sin­ But o ne pale woman a ll a lon e, cere and studied triviality." The triumphant opening night of this delightfully sophisti ca ted Th e daylight kiss ing h er wan ha ir, r. farce marked the culmination of W ilde's ca ree 15 Lo itered ben eath th e gas la mps' f1are, Then, at the ve ry crest of success, Wilde was brough t down by cutastrophe. A lthough ho­ With li ps of f1ame and h eart of stone. mosexuality was a crim ina l offense in Britain, Wilde had made littl e effort to conceal his rela­ 1877 188 1 tions with younger men, particularly Lord Alfred Douglas. But if society tumed a blind eye, Douglas's father, the Marquess of Queensberry, did not. He hounded his son's lover relent­

:-~l I . lmprt:onof tht.· lllllnllng (Frcn..::h). The rule C\'t.lkt:::. ~ne::.nf Tham~.. ·.. mghr ~ccne~.~.~ 11..·,1''tki\ .. IUfl lc:-"' \:-l ·e

lessly, finally sending W ilde a ludicrously misspelled note calli ng him a "Somdomite." Egged rhl' pountm g::. uf the Fn.:nch lmprcss ivnist::. anJ thc•r .at· Colur Piau.• 18}. HI:'cnurleJ :'>1.HI1l' of ht~J.t\Uilh.' ~...:~..·nl·~ on by Douglas, W ilde sued for lihd. It was a fatal mistake. His private affairs were mercilessly ll:mpb !11 ::.huw huw light tr,m~flJrm:-the lanLbi...Jpc. The "harmonie~... Ht~d fn..-rkbhtp \\ Uh \XItllk· rurn~..·\ltnltl gruup rc"-cin:J ib 11dlllC 111 1874 when .J c ritic ::.inglt.·J uut d ~itrcrrivalr r hy rht: mtJ- !880:,; Wht:,flcr d~('U~cJ w,l.k ex posed in court, and he lost the case. Wilde himself was then prosecuted for committing in­ Monl.'t 's hntn·~ssiou:Sumise a... n.:pre:-cmati ve. tlf plag iari:ing Ill:-iJt'a:,.

'::. rl ~~ Jecenr acts, con\'icteJ, and ~l.'ntencedtn twn yea rs at hard labur. 2. The Amcru.:an jdlllt. McNeill Whis er p.1inrcJ